IT'S A QUILTY CHRISTMAS

 And the stockings were hung. The house is now ready for Christmas. It always takes me a while to get in the mood to decorate but once it's done, I'm happy with the results.

Enjoy a little Christmas cheer from my house to yours!

Cross and Crown quilt and my "quilty" tree

My favorite ornament, an A6 from my USMC days

                                                

Mini stockings, gifts from dear friends, and other special gifts on the mantel

The Funny Frog and a beautiful carved Santa from a cypress stump, a real treasure

Hand made Teddy Bear in his sleigh and The 12 Days of Christmas quilt

Even the hubby's carvings display gets a Christmas touch

The Dining Room is kept simple this year

12 Days of Christmas quilt--first block has 1 piece, second block has 2, etc...

 I have made several of these, and given a few as gifts. Pattern from Temecula Quilt Company   

Front door--and each window across the house has a simple white candle, lovely at night

Living Room

                                        

Detail of an antique quilt from circa 1875

One of my most treasured antiques, a Flea Market find, on the Non-Guest bed

Read much more about this antique Ohio Star quilt here: Christmas Quilts   and  It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas  

Even the guest bed gets a Christmas quilt--I made this in 1989, one of  my first hand quilted bed quilts

1880 Sampler quilt, pattern from Temecula Quilt Company Sew A Long 2018

However and whatever you celebrate at this time of year, I wish you the best!

Let's quilt.

Barbara 

                                     

BEAN'S BABY QUILT

There is a new grandbaby coming my way in March 2024. My son and his woman don't plan to know the gender in advance so, for now, the baby is called "Bean". 

Recently I got to work making the top and now it's time to quilt it. EQ8 has great alphabet letters for foundation paper piecing so that is what I used.

Ready to start quilting:

The back is "Baby Feet" in flannel, something I have been saving for many years for an extra special baby quilt:

Threads are white Bottom Line for the bobbin, and a pastel variegated King Tut, both by Superior Threads. 

The background is Confetti, made especially for The Quilt Show and only available from their shop, perfect for kids quilts: Confetti Squares, It also comes in black and white and Stars rather than squares. 

This is very similar to the quilt I made in 2015 for my first grandchild, Stella. Those blocks were pieced but when I couldn't find the patterns I was sure I saved, I looked at EQ8. Once I found these easy paper pieced letters I was in business:

Stella's quilt:

I did find these pieced Letters online--it's a FREE download from MODA Fabrics. One source is here: Spell It With Fabric. It's downloaded and saved now--BUT the paper piecing was fast and easy and the sashing is made as part of the blocks--super fast.

Now on to the quilting, stay tuned...

Let's quilt.

Barbara

HOMEWARD BOUND -- THE QUILTING

 We made it to the end of the 2023 Block of the Month quilt for The Quilt Show! Let's talk about how you might want to quilt it.

Here are a few photos of Sarah Fielke's quilt, showing some of the quilting. It was custom longarm quilted by Australian quilter Kat Jones:

I sold my top to Alex Anderson. She will have it longarm quilted and I will be eager to see how it is finished. 

If I were quilting this quilt myself, here is how I would do it, using the Bernina Q20 sit down longarm. First, I stitch in the ditch along the lines of construction. 

Top to bottom first: 

Left to Right next:

This stabilizes the quilt, allows the removal of lots of pins, and gives areas for free motion quilting around the applique motifs. This step is done with a Line Tamer Ruler, my go-to for all straight line quilting.

I use a fine thread for this step, either Quilters Select 80 wt or Microquilter by Superior 100 wt thread, in a color that blends with the background. On this quilt I would use light gray. Bobbin thread is Bottom Line by Superior in a color that blends with the backing fabric.

If I wanted the free motion quilting to show, I would use a thicker thread for the decorative quilting. My favorites are So Fine 50 wt by Superior, Quilter's Select 60 wt., or Glide if I want some shine. Thread color is the most important factor for me as I don't want my stitching to show, I'm just not that good at it. 

This is essentially how I quilted Garden Party Down Under, the 2022 Block of the Month quilt. See my detailed blog post about quilting that one here: Quilting Garden Party Down Under

I have written MANY BLOGS about machine quilting and Ruler Work. Use the SEARCH box on the left above, the orange B space. Type in Ruler Work or Free Motion Quilting to find them. 

This quilt can be quilted edge to edge if you don't want to do or pay for Custom machine quilting. Look what good friend Margo did with her Homeward Bound. Simple is sometimes perfect:

Here are more images I took from the photos posted on our Forum: MONTH 12 -- Show Your Completed Top Here!:

Renee:

Patricia B:

I LOVE this pieced back made from "orphan" blocks--it hides everything

It will be fun, interesting and educational to see how everyone quilts this quilt. Please post it on the FORUM when you are done. And we will  be watching for photos of these quilts hanging in Shows with RIBBONS on them, it is sure to happen.

PLEASE ADD A LABEL TO YOUR QUILT! Yes, I am shouting. It is so important. It tells the who, what, why, where, and when of the quilt. Be sure to add the name of the pattern and designer, Homeward Bound by Sarah Fielke. And the name of the quilter if you didn't do the quilting. Find my blog about making labels here:  LABELS-- don't leave home without one

And the last, most important reminder: NOW is the time to save/download all the patterns if you haven't started or any you haven't gotten to yet. After December 31, 2023 all rights return to the designer and no one can give those to you. It is easy to download them all HERE: HOMEWARD BOUND PATTERNS.

If you are not yet a STAR MEMBER of The Quilt Show, now is a great time to join. For $49 for one year you can get ALL of HOMEWARD BOUND and will be ready for PICK A PETAL beginning January 1, 2024:

You also get access to over 500 Shows, all 15 years of The Quilt Show, and everything that comes with being a Star Member--including a 20% coupon for one complete order in the Store. So much bang for your buck--join us in this worldwide quilting community: JOIN TODAY

Let's quilt.

Barbara

CONTROLLED CHAOS -- THE STUDIO

 Since returning from Houston 3 weeks ago, my studio has been a mess. I have several projects going at once, things are heaped up everywhere. So it is not a pleasant place to work. Take a look:

The Cutting Table

The Q20 flat surface perfect for dumping stuff

Ironing Station and boxes I might need for shipping sales

Rocking Chair, another dumping spot

Right side of sewing machine

Left side of sewing machine

Cozy chair/dump site

The Design wall at the moment

Before I go any farther, I must make some order from all this chaos!

Several hours later... (because I used the time to cut up all the fabric needed for 20 blocks used in Pick A Petal and design a Baby quilt)

From the doorway

Cutting Surface ready to go, Disappearing Patchwork on the Design Wall 

Two more blocks for Pick A Petal ready to sew on the left side of the machine

Ironing Station all set, no more boxes on the floor

Wow!

Now I am ready to get to work. 

Pick A Petal, the 2024 FREE Block of the Month for Star Members of The Quilt Show has its' own tote, everything all together:

The Fabric Kit and optional Template Set--essential in my opinion

All together in their own tote

Another "MUST DO" Project is a baby quilt for my next grandchild. An alphabet quilt with a Winnie the Pooh back--my son loves Pooh so I bought this fabric more than 25 years ago. I dug it out today to find it is 60" wide decorator fabric, designed as panels. It will be the back and I won't be hand quilting this one:

The design I worked up in EQ8--the letters will be LOTS of colors

I will create a pieced back with these panels and Confetti will be the background fabric on the front of the quilt

Another quilt I have to get made right away is Antelope Canyon--Dit Dot Evolution.  I am teaching it locally at Southern Charm Quilting Huntsville AL March 19 and April 2, 2024. So this top is first priority:

There is one other project I am eager to make, the only fabric/pattern I bought in Houston--actually, I bought it at The Quilted Skein on my day trip to La Grange, TX. It was just so beautiful, easy, and on sale:

So there you have it.  My studio space is once again my refuge and I smile when I come in and see it looking like this. Chaos will return in time but for now, it's neat, tidy and ready to welcome me in.

Let's quilt!

Barbara